When Destiny Calls
by Katea-Nui
Summary: Abnormal Teen Kate Ericson has bought her ticket to a ride she'll never forget. Stuck in a new world, she must make friends, battle monsters, and fight for survival with the help of the Toa Metru. Whenua/OC Fluff
1. Freedom for Fools

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle(Wish I did though T_T)**

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She could feel the tension in the air as the bodies of her companions prepared to spring. Her 'friends' all leaned forward and the room was so quiet, that Kate swore that if she dropped a piece of paper, she would be able to hear it flutter and hit the ground. The internal clock was ticking to her heart beat and her companions all held a collective breath.

Ta-dump…three

Rustling could be heard as the large guy behind her shifted slightly.

Ta-dump… two

Her ice blue eyes scanned the group of face full of anticipation.

Ta-dump… one

BRIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNG!

All at once, the classroom was full of the sounds of scraping chairs, loud chatter and the air of summer. All meaningless to Katrina Thurman. That wasn't even her real last name. Just her foster parents' and, quite frankly, she hated it.

She got slower than her oh-so-enthusiastic classmates and didn't bother answering the teacher's cheery, "See you next year, Miss Thurman!"

'Not if I can help it.' Kate thought sullenly. After all, she'd probably be with another foster family by the end of the summer. It always ended up that way. She'd be with a family only a month or two before something weird happened and they'd send her back to Foster Care with relieved smiles and happy tears. She was and unwanted sixteen year old. No big deal. Happened to a lot of kids.

'Keep telling yourself that Ericson.' She frowned, but used her real last name in her head. 'You're no different from other kids…..right?'

She thought deeply as she walked through the school gates, taking her sweet time, in no hurry to go to that house from the chasm. Summer vacation was here. Oh joy. She supposed she could call this the first REAL summer vacation she'd ever had. All her other Foster Families were loaded enough to be able to have her home schooled, which is why the problems always started. When you were home, parents could take more out on you and somehow she always ended up with the wackos. They'd get in her face, yelling and spitting and cursing to high heaven, she'd lose her temper and the next thing you knew…things would happen.

Kate shifted her back pack to her other shoulder as a group of 'in-crowd' kids passed her. One of them bumped her (on purpose) rather hard and yanked her backpack away. His friends snickered.

"Oooh! Look what I found, guys! A freak's backpack!" he unzipped it and glanced at Kate with an evil look in his brown eyes. "Wonder what a freak keeps in their back pack!"

Before she could stop him, he flipped the back pack upside down and watched as textbooks, pencils, notebooks and personal items hit the sidewalk and scattered. His friends laughed hysterically as Kate looked on in silent rage.

"You better hope nothing was broken, Jonathan Hills!" her voice was a mere whisper, but had plenty of threat dripping from her words.

The brunette boy and his friends stopped laughing and whatever they saw in her eyes made them take a few steps back. Jonathan turned to them and gave a nervous laugh. "C'mon guys! Let's get out of here before the freak syndrome wipes off on us too!"

They all nodded and eagerly hurried on their way, the mood returning to a light one the farther away they got from the blond girl. Kate sighed and swiped at her eyes, pushing away the angry tears. Boys were stupid! She bent down and began picking up her stuff while other kids continued to pass her and glance at her curiously. She cursed loudly, startling two freshmen as they walked by. Her Sherlock Holmes collection was ruined! It had landed in the blasted gutter! Now the pages were soaked and the ink was beginning to spread. Great, now she really _was_ about to cry. Life was SO unfair! Gingerly, she picked the book up and slammed it shut, looking for a place to toss it. Her heart sank when she had to drop it in a recycling bin outside a store.

A few more kids ran by, one boy pumping a fist into the air and yelling, "Summer vacation! FREEDOM!"

'Freedom for _Fools_ maybe.' Kate thought angrily, stuffing the rest of her stuff into her back pack and zipping it up. 'For the rest of us, it's just another definition of hell.'

A while later, Kate was walking by the shopping district in a foul mood. Her favorite book was gone, her school crap most likely wrinkled in her bag now and she still felt like crying. She really hated Jonathan Hills. He was such a jerk! All the time, too! What was his issue with her! Ever since she'd transferred into Geoff High School, he had honed in on her like a hunting hawk would on a mouse. Kids could already sense that she was different, but nobody really tried talking or interacting with her. Just Jonathan and he wasn't nice at all. Angrily, she wiped at her eyes again.

"Are you okay, young lady?" a dried, cracked old voice came from a shop door, startling her.

She looked up to see an old woman standing at a bookstore entrance, a broom in her hand. Huh, she'd never noticed this place before. It looked out of sorts with the big industrial buildings surrounding it.

"I'm fine." She muttered, hoping the lady would drop it. Fat chance of that happening.

The old woman chuckled. "Trying to be strong isn't always a good thing. You look like a young woman who would enjoy a good read. Come on in and take your mind off of whatever's troubling you."

Kate rolled her eyes. It was obvious this woman was fishing for business, but she sighed. After all, what could be the harm? Maybe she'd find a new Sherlock Holmes copy. She had twenty bucks in her pocket and it was just dying to be spent. Without a word, she entered the shop and began to browse. There were definitely interesting books lining the shelves and the old woman's voice drifted back to her from the counter.

"Don't be afraid to pick up anything and skim hon!"

'Oh, I plan to.' Kate told herself as she ran her finger over extravagant volumes and Beautiful titles. Her heart jumped when she saw a pristine first hand edition of Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection of Mysteries. Without a second thought, she tore the book from the shelf and rushed to the front of the store hoping a Twenty would be enough to cover the price. She laid the book on the counter and waited for the old woman who'd gone into the back room. As she waited, her eyes scanned the piles of worn books behind the counter and soon, she was staring at a book lying face-up with no title. Just a symbol. Odd, but it certainly spiked her interest.

"Excuse me?" she asked the old lady as she came out. "May I see that book?"

The old lady saw which way she was pointing. "This thing? Hardly worth the read. An elderly gentleman donated it a few months back and I can't get it to open. Old fool must have gotten something sticky between the pages." She noticed Kate still held her hand out. "Well, alright then dear. But don't say I didn't warn you." She handed her the book which Kate immediately paid for, having forgotten all about Sherlock Holmes. "No refunds honey."

Kate left the shop and tried her hand at opening the cover. It opened fine. She frowned. Maybe investing in this thing hadn't been such a good idea. The pages were completely blank! But, for some reason, she couldn't turn around and take it back.

'Suppose it would make a good journal.' She thought sullenly, stuffing it in her backpack and continuing on her way to her foster home.

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**Thanks for reading! Please leave reviews!**


	2. Running Away

**Bionicle is not mine! You should know that by NOW!**

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Kate stormed into her room and threw her backpack down before throwing herself on her bed heavily. Her foster father had been furious that she had come home one minute late than was normal. He didn't even wait to hear her out! Even saying that as far as he was concerned, she didn't have to be his problem! Said she was lucky he was even looking out for her. Her foster mother had of course agreed. This was just great. She was lucky that she'd been able to hold her horrible temper.

She screamed into her pillow, until she had no more breath and had to come up for air. What a life! Why was it she always ended up with the crazies! And why did she have to be so weird! It frustrated her beyond belief. She couldn't even make a proper friend without having to tell them about her, uh, condition. She turned over and threw her arm across her face, covering her eyes. She hated it here. She wanted to go somewhere….. Somewhere where she could be _herself_, strangeness and all, and be accepted. Not yelled at or harassed by idiots like Jonathan Hills.

But what did this family know about being different? They fit in perfectly! The only reason that they kept her around was because it was good for their 'image'. And they made it perfectly clear that she wasn't truly welcomed. Even so, she had to deal with it for now. So she may as well make the best of it. She would calm down for a while. After that, no matter how much she didn't mean it, she would apologize. After all, she didn't have anywhere else to go. She took a calming breath and exhaled loudly, feeling her thoughts realign themselves.

Finally, after half an hour of this exercise, she pushed herself off the bed and made her way to the door. She turned the handle and got the door open a crack when she heard voices arguing down the hall. Her foster parents were fighting. How odd. They kept up the guise of a happy couple, even in front of Kate, although she could see through it perfectly. She paused and crouched behind her door, listening.

"The neighbors are talking Abigail!" Her Foster Father was saying. "They know something's up with the child! She's just so … abnormal!"

"You think I'm not aware of that Richard!" Abigail answered. "I have to hear Martha talk about it everyday." The woman's voice became shrill and mocking as she imitated their next door neighbor. "Are you sure she'd getting enough sleep? What about the food you're feeding her? She's a teenager, so make sure that you keep her away from most boys! She doesn't seem too happy! Blah, blah, blah! I'm getting sick of it Richard! But I still say we can't send her back yet! That'll raise more questions!"

"Mark my words Abigail! If I get one more screw up from that…..that…SCREW UP! She's gone! I don't want her here and never did!"

Abigail seemed to mutter an agreement.

_Screw Up!_ SHE was a SCREW UP! All she did was come home one minute late! Her eyes filled with tears and she closed her door. Then she dumped her backpack out on the floor and began stuffing it with clothes and snacks she had stashed away in her room. On top of that, she threw her MP3 from her REAL mother and the book she'd bought that day. She paused to wipe the tears from her eyes before staring at the book sitting at the top of the stuffed denim bag. Why had she thrown that in there? She didn't need it. It was just some blank book…. She reached for it, meaning to pull it out, but her hand only fell weakly to her side. Without another thought for the book, she turned around and quietly slipped on the worn out, clunky black vans she'd had for a few years now and her white knit hoodie sweater.

If they were sick of her, she was tree times sick of them! So she was doing them all a favor. Leaving for good. The last thing she stuffed in her bag was her brush and a few full batteries. Who knew when she'd be able to get more? Then, she zipped it up and slung it over her shoulders before going to her window and popping the screen out of place. From there it was two feet to the ground since she was in the smallest room in a one story house. She put it back in place before leaving and marching away from the house into the backwoods of Minnesota. The sun was setting and there was only a little light left to see by so she'd have to make the most of it.

In the one month that she'd lived with the Thurmans, she'd spent most of her time in the woods behind their house. So she had a pretty good idea on where she could go for the night. A good five or six miles inward was a small cave that you had to crawl to get into. The sixteen year old sighed. Better get marching then.

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Kate pushed through the last of the bramble bushes, pulling her pants free of the tine thorns. Her legs burned slightly where the prickly plant had poked through her jeans, but other than that, she was only tired. Tired and hungry seeing that she had skipped dinner. She braced her hands on her knees and took a breather before looking up and seeing exactly what she'd wanted to. The cliff face was several hundred feet high and had creeping ivy growing up its side. Perfect for the cave it was hiding just behind it.

Kate went forward one last time and pushed the ivy up to see the small slit in the cliff face. She grinned and stuffed her backpack in before her and got on her stomach to crawl in after it. Soon she was in total blackness and wished she'd thought of a flashlight. Too late for that now. Instead, she felt with one hand along the small roof until it opened up into a much larger room where small slits in the roof allowed moonlight to creep through. She sat up gratefully, the front of her sweater lightly coated with damp soil as well as her jeans. Kate merely brushed herself off and stood. Her legs burned with their workout, but she forced herself to walk the couple of feet to sit under a lit patch of the floor. She unzipped her backpack and looked inside for a granola bar.

Her eyes fell on the book instead and almost immediately, her hunger was forgotten. "I thought I left you behind." She muttered. Yes, she remembered reaching in to take out the book, but nothing for a brief second after that. _Did_ she pull the book out? She could've sworn she did. Weird. She reached for it and pulled it out. "Strange that I can't stop thinking about you." She said to nobody, running her fingers along the strange symbol on the book's cover.

She flipped it open and wasn't surprised to see the blank pages staring her back in the face. She suddenly felt frustrated. "Some help you are!" she growled wanting to slam it shut but feeling her temper rise instead. Suddenly a dark purple current began to pulse along the surface of her hands. That was new. Then the book began glowing and she had to slam her eyes shut to keep from going blind.

That was when the pain erupted inside of her. It was hot! Everything was so HOT! It hurt! Oh lord above! She opened her mouth and screamed.

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**Thank yous for reading! Hope you likes it so far! Please review... be gentle, my ego bruised easily T_T (lol)**


	3. Welcome to the Archives

**Chapter 3, y'all and I hope you have as much fun with it as I did! This is one of my favorite encounters that I cooked up for Kate and the Toa!**

**Disclaimer: Do I even need to say it?**

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Kate opened her eyes slowly, trying to get her bearings. What had happened? First, she'd gotten in a fight with her Foster Parents and decided she'd had enough. Then, she remembered running away and hiding….. in the forest behind their house. She sat up, wincing when her head spun. She felt like she'd just survived a tornado. Then again, she may have. What else had she done? She'd stopped to rest, with her backpack on her shoulder…. Then she opened that book…..

Was that all? It was all that she could remember. She shivered and finally took the time to view her surroundings. Her heart froze. This…..was…..NOT….the forest! She stood up and looked around, bewildered, trying hard not to panic. Where was she! A hall. Okay, she was standing in a very cold, very dark, very LARGE hallway. That was a start. She forced herself to calm down, taking a deep breath of the musty air. This place smelled of history. She mentally smacked herself. History, tch, right! What a stupid thing to think. She took another calming breath and tried to focus again. What else could she figure out about this place?

The hall was filled with glass cases. All of which were occupied by…? Robotic animals? That's what she thought they were. Okay. So maybe she'd stumbled into an underground government lab. Yeah, hah! Good one. She shivered again. Boy was it a good thing she'd worn a white knit sweater and jeans! This place was drafty. Her black skate shoes made hardly a sound as she turned in a circle and, seeing her backpack, sighed in relief. At least she had her stuff with her. She bent down and hoisted it over her shoulder, the weight of her spare clothes, the book, and MP3 comforting her. She turned to head down the hall (hopefully she'd find somebody who could tell her the way out) when she paused and tilted her head to the side.

She could hear…..banging of some sort. And voices. Curious, she turned around once more and headed in the direction the voices were coming from. Her blond, shoulder length hair swung with her efforts to keep quiet as she crept around a corner, keeping one shoulder close to the wall. Yeah. Those were _definitely_ voices. And it sounded like they were in trouble. She crept right up to the next corner, listening.

She suddenly had to cover her ears against a loud ringing sound. She tried not to cry out, but it was difficult as the sound grated against her every nerve. When the ringing quieted, she pulled her hand from her ears just in time to hear a loud SLAM! Seconds later, she heard a cold, quiet voice say,

"Ow."

"Sorry, all that I could think of." A much deeper voice replied, somewhat apologetic, but not entirely. He said something else, but Kate was busy fighting the temptation to peek around the corner and see the owners of those voices.

She caught the cold voice again. Funny how it reminded her of winter. "You gave it a headache."

The deep voice again. "Welcome to the Archives."

Archives? Kate frowned and finally lost the will to NOT look. She poked her head around the corner and her breath caught in her throat. She was staring at two …. _Robotic_… people! One white, the other black. What the frag was going on? She didn't have time to ponder this question, because, like the klutz she was, she dropped the Mp3 to the floor where it hit the ground with a loud KLACK! She flinched just as the two robots spun around and caught sight of her. Her heart stopped and she scooped up her device and bolted back the way she came.

Behind her, she heard pounding steps and the icy voice call, "Wait! Whenua! We don't know what that thing is!"

"Only one way to find out!" The deeper voice answered, much closer than Kate would like it to be. She turned to look behind her and saw the black one chasing her, the white one right behind.

'Oh snap!' Kate thought, urging her legs to go faster. These things were fast! She careened down the hall she'd first found herself in, and ducked into a smaller hall that was obviously built for something slightly smaller than herself, but much too small for the big guys on her heels. She threw herself on the ground, breathing hard, her heart pounding about twenty times a second. She clutched her bag to her chest, staring at the wall and listening.

"What the…..! It's gone!" Whenua cried as he turned the corner. "But I _saw_ it come this way!"

"Looks like you were too slow, brother." It was the white one. Kate could see their legs from where she was sitting. She kept quiet, clutching her bag closer. It was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. "Any idea what that was?"

"None." Answered Whenua. "I wasn't even aware that such a creature existed. What could it possibly be, Nuju."

"Some trick of the Morbuzakh, perhaps. Remember Whenua, I asked you first."

"Well that's just peachy. A Ko-Matoran scholar telling _me_ to remember!"

Kate heard a smack and a low ouch and breathed a quiet sigh of relief when the legs disappeared and footsteps could be heard fading down the hall. That had been nerve wracking and quite scary. She didn't know where she was. For all she knew, she could be in the future! How crazy would that be! And what in the world was a _Morbuzakh_? Kate sure didn't want to stick around to find out. She waited a few more seconds before deciding that she would take her chances on her own. Slowly she crept forward, listening intently for any other sounds. A second ticked by, then a minute, then two minutes. She didn't hear anything except for her own heart beat and quiet breathing.

It sounded like the coast was clear. Good. She'd rather not have another run in with… whatever it was those were. She stuck her head out and glanced both ways, relieved to find that the halls were clear. Then she snuck the rest of the way out and stood, keeping close to the wall and making her way back the way she had started. After a couple of tense minutes, she made it to a corner and carefully (this time keeping an eye on any loose items) poked her head around the corner. Nothing. She placed a hand over her heart and breathed out.

"Looking for something?" a voice said right in her ear.

Kate yelped and spun around to coming face-to-mask with Whenua. He was nearly double over and when he stood tall again, he must have been seven feet tall. She backed up quickly bumping into something else. A cold chill hit her back and when she glanced over her shoulder she saw the one called Nuju, his arms crossed and his eyes staring at her with interest. Where on God's green earth did he come from!

"Not too smart, is it?" Nuju commented quietly. "Odd looking too, even for a rahi."

Okay, she could take the strange words like Morbuzakh and rahi. She could even take brush off being called an it, but that comment about her _intelligence_! Even if she was scared, that was crossing the line. She glared back at Nuju, staring him full in the mask.

"Well EXCUSE me that I don't look like you or know my way around!" she spat angrily, taking Nuju by surprise.

Whenua whistled. "Mata-Nui! It can talk!"

Kate turned her steely gaze on him. "Of course I can talk! Now close your mouth before I do it for you!"

"Feisty, ain't ya?" Whenua grinned, looking more intrigued than threatened. He probably believed that she wasn't a match for him. He was probably right. "If you _are_ a trick of the Morbuzakh, then this is the most interesting trick I've seen."

Nuju interrupted Whenua's gawking with a loud cough. "If it is a trick, then grab it and let's go! We've got a disk to find and that banging around earlier probably attracted some curious guests we'll have to deal with if we're still here!"

Kate glared at Nuju and then at Whenua who had moved closer. She caught the gist of what was about to happen. "Don't you dare!"

Not that it mattered because the Toa of Earth had already bent, scooped her from the floor and had thrown her over his shoulder. "Sorry little buddy." He grinned at her protests as he turned to follow Nuju back to their task.

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**Please review and tell me what you liked! For those of you who enjoyed this chappie, there's is far more to come! I look forward to your comments! ^_^**


	4. Explore and Discovery

**DISCLAIMER: DUH!**

**Please enjoy. Ko-Metru is next .**

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Kate had tried everything she could think of to get Whenua to let go. She kicked, she screamed, she even threatened him. All of this fell deaf to his ears, meeting annoyed sighs from Nuju and amused chuckles from Whenua instead of her feet meeting the floor. Now that she had given upon trying to get the Earth Toa to let go, Kate hung over his shoulder with her arms crossed and her face set in a scowl. Nuju, personally was just pleased that this strange rahi had finally shut up. Who knew what kind of attention they had attracted on the upper floors of the archives.

Ever since Kate had fallen quiet, Whenua had been trying to get her to talk again. He asked her questions that she begrudgingly answered. After all, the guy was three times bigger than her. What choice did she have?

"So you come from a world called Earth?" Whenua asked for what must have been the fourth time I the last minute.

"Yeah." Kate muttered. "And I'm not a RAHI, or whatever you call an animal. I'm a _human_. Perfectly capable of rational thought!" This last sentence was aimed at Nuju for the 'Not very smart,' comment from earlier.

"It has a mouth on it, doesn't." Said Toa commented icily.

"I HAVE a name!" Kate snorted indignantly. "Stop calling me 'it'!"

"Then what is this name of yours, human?" Whenua asked.

Kate hesitated before she decided that there was no harm in telling these guys what she was called. After all, it sure was better than being called 'it'. "Katrina. But call me Kate. It's shorter and sounds better."

They'd been searching the Archives for awhile now and so far Nuju was only getting increasingly frustrated. Many times they'd had to leave Kate outside a room while they went in to search for whatever they were down here for in the first place. The only reason that Kate hadn't run already was because Nuju had easily mentioned that she would only get herself lost without them. Unfortunately, she knew he was right. So she waited. Kate just wished that they trusted her when they were there. Whenua seemed convinced that if he didn't have ahold of her, she would disappear. She would if she could.

At one point they had stopped at a door that Whenua had been worried about entering, but they finally did, leaving Kate outside to wait and watch. She crouched there, by the door, with her arms wrapped around her shins and her chin propped on her knees. She stared at the wall across from her, lost in thought.

Suddenly, a loud screech filled the hall, making her jump. She turned to stare at the door she was waiting outside of with wide eyes and a pounding pulse. Inside, she could hear Whenua and Nuju yelling at each other and aside from them, the cries of an angry animal. Oh, Lord above! What in the world was MAKING those sounds! She didn't want to know and sent a prayer of thanks that Whenua hadn't insisted on making her go inside. She was seriously considering bolting (Who wanted to be down here with two Toa and an angry monster trying to get at you? A no brainer.) when Whenua and Nuju suddenly came flying out of the room, covered with ice and snow. They hit the opposite wall and the gap that had appeared closed quickly behind them.

Kate stared at them as if to say, 'What happened to you?' But if she was expecting an answer, she was sorely disappointed.

"I guess it worked." Whenua groaned as he stood and brushed the ice from his armor. "This hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be."

"Maybe that's the first lesson in the life of a Toa."Nuju replied, doing the same. "Nothing is easy."

'Well _I_ could've told you that!' Kate thought, but the irritated look on the Ice Toa's face prompted her to keep her mouth shut.

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Kate was beginning to think that they were walking in circles. This place was just one hallway after another and she was considering what Nuju said about the way out. The question was, _did_ they know the way out? They might have just told her that to keep her from running off. Not that she could have. This place terrified her to no end. Crazy monsters behind every door, mazes of tunnels and hallways and strange signs that she had no idea if they were giving directions or telling you that you were lost. That was what she hated most. Feeling lost and alone. Finally, Nuju voiced the suspicion that she herself had found on the tip of her tongue.

"We're going in circles, aren't we?"

So he wasn't the one who knew the way out. It was Whenua, who currently had a heavy hand planted on her shoulder as they walked. (He'd finally given in to her pleas to walk on her own.) "Not at all." He insisted. "But if it's here, we will have to find it soon. We've explored almost the entire level! I don't think—"

"SHHH!" Kate hissed suddenly, her head tilted to one side. "Am I the only one who hears that?"

Whenua and Nuju were both quiet for a moment and in the quiet, heavy pounding could be heard. It sounded like footsteps. A LOT of footsteps.

"We just ran out of time." Whenua said suddenly, reaching out and yanking open the nearest door. "The Vahki are coming. Someone must have heard all the noise down here and called for them."

"That's partially your fault." Nuju told Kate, earning himself a glare.

The Toa of Earth was no frantically opening doors and raging on about authorization and Onu-Metru Vahkis. Kate had little time to comprehend what was going on before Whenua was dragging her forward and yanking open doors on the go. He and Nuju were having a hurried conversation while all Kate could think was 'Ohmigod! I'm gonna die!'

Whenua reached for yet another door and pulled it open, but instead of an animal or an empty room, a cascade of items fell out, burying him and yanking Kate out of his grasp. She stumbled and ran into the Toa of Ice who steadied her before staring at the pile of artifacts. A moment went by, then two and all Kate was aware of was her pounding heart and the pounding footsteps slowly growing louder. Nuju took a step towards the unmoving pile when an armored hand burst from it holding what looked to Kate like a Frisbee. Then, Whenua was dragging himself from the pile and Nuju was hoisting Kate over his shoulder, causing her to cry out in surprise. It was time to be absent from this place.

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**Thanks for reading! Please review, but be gentle. The good stuff is yet to come!**


	5. Ice, Keerahk, and Annoyances

**DISCLAIMER: Do I even need to bother?**

**Enjoy theprogressing story of Kate!**

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Kate silently cursed Nuju and Whenua as she clung to the side of the crystal like tower. She HATED heights and had a psychological reason behind that hate. She shut her eyes tightly and forced herself not to think about that reason. Instead, she focused on not sliding off the edge of the sloping tower. Not an easy feat when the only thing you were holding onto for balance was the side of the very tower you were trying not to fall from. Not only that, but this place was _freezing_! Much more so than the archives had been and her fingers were beginning to feel numb. Who knew how much longer she'd be able to hang on! Whenua tapped her shoulder.

"Kate?" He'd finally gotten used to calling her by name. "Are you okay?"

Kate shook her head and mumbled that she was 'freezing her arse off' and would like to get back on the ground. Of course that wasn't happening anytime soon. Nuju was making sure of that. The Toa of Ice was just as irritated as the human. He'd wanted to leave her behind with the matoran, but she made them uncomfortable. Especially the very confused Tehutti. Not only that, but there was no guarantee that she would still be there when they returned and he certainly didn't trust Ehrye to be able to stop her if she wanted to leave. So, they'd dragged her along. Something he was regretting. While Whenua seemed set on making friend with the strange creature, Nuju wasn't entirely certain that she was a friend. Not that she had done anything to harm them. In fact, she'd even gotten them out of a tight situation down in the streets below with the Vahki. Still, he'd be keeping an eye on her.

Kate gave a small cry of fear when her hand slipped and she had to scramble to not slip off. Whenua reached forward and grasped her arm. "Maybe you should hang onto me."

Kate didn't need a second prompting. She wrapped her arms around the Earth Toa's waist (seeing as she could only reach that high anyway.) and kept her eyes shut. It felt slightly warmer next to Whenua's body heat and she held tighter, trying not to freeze and not to fall.

'_Kid must be really scared of heights_.' Whenua didn't blame her. He wasn't one for tower hopping either, seeing as he was a Toa of Earth and not Air. But Ehrye had said that the Ko-Metru disk was up here and according to Vakama they needed those disks. So not much choice there.

Nuju suddenly took a running leap, crossing the gap between this tower and the next. When he turned, Whenua was looking on in frustration. There was no way he would be able to make the leap, especially with Kate holding onto him for support. Then, Nuju fired something from one of his spikes and when he was done, a thick frozen beam spanned the gap. "Wrap your arms around it and slide across!"

Whenua frowned, but pried Kate from his waist. The quick calculations he'd done in his head told him that the beam would never hold his weight, but the smaller human would make it across without trouble. He placed his hands on the girl's shoulders and explained as best he could. "Kate, you need to slide across." He saw her face pale. Funny creatures, humans. Their emotions could be read like instructions on a data pad. "Trust me. You'll be fine. Nuju is waiting on the other side for you."

Kate felt her heart constrict with fear as she approached the gap slowly. She couldn't do it. Her muscles were already freezing up in fear and she could already imagine herself falling to the ground to become the first ever human pancake to be found in the streets of Metru-Nui. She shook her head, not trusting her voice. Kate heard Whenua sigh.

"Please Kate! We don't have much time until the Vahki come up here and I _promise_ nothing's going to happen to you!"

Kate felt her hands shaking, but when she looked into Whenua's glowing eyes, she saw his absolute sincerity. How much of a coward was she to him? She didn't want to know. Kate hated being seen as a coward! Taking a deep breath she crept a little closer and let Whenua hold her up so that she could reach out and grasp the beam of ice. It was cold on her bare hands, but her fear kept her from letting go and soon she was sliding incredibly fast across the gap. It was over in a few seconds before Nuju was stopping her from hitting the wall of the tower and pulling her to safety. She wrapped her arms around his neck and felt him turn expectantly towards Whenua.

"It'll never hold!" She heard him shout, his voice sounding faint from this distance.

"Yes it will!" Nuju insisted, but Kate heard him mutter under his breath, "Probably."

Whenua leaped and grabbed hold of the beam and was rapidly making his way across when the beam suddenly began cracking in the middle. Kate watched in horror as Whenua lost his grip, but was relieved when his velocity carried the rest of the way across and he slammed into the side and dug his drills into the ice.

She heard him mutter something about Ko-Metru needing more chutes before she felt Nuju tnse and answer him. "Most Ko-Matoran don't travel by rooftop. Look below."

Kate let Whenua do the looking, afraid that if she did look she'd lose her grip on Nuju and plummet to the bottom.

"I thought we had left them far behind." Whenua said quietly.

Nuju snorted. "Keerahk are efficient." He answered, referring to the Ko-Metru Vahki. (Whenua had explained some things to Kate on their way to Ko-Metru.) "We are not where we are supposed to be. It's their job to fix that. Keep moving."

Kate held on for dear life while Nuju and Whenua climbed for the top and then she was being pushed into a crevice by Nuju. "Stay there." He whispered fiercely.

"We have problems Nuju." She heard Whenua cry.

"More than you know." Nuju answered, explaining something about the Keerahk that Kate missed as he moved closer to Whenua's position and farther from hers. She wished she could see more than the two Toa. Then again, it may have been a good thing that she couldn't see much.

Suddenly, she watched as Nuju thrust one of his spikes at Whenua and the Earth Toa was frozen up to his neck in ice. She gasped just as Whenua shouted, "What are you doing!"

Then she saw Nuju turn to something she couldn't see from her hiding place and speak to it. "After a long pursuit, I have caught this thief from Onu-Metru! Take him to Turaga Dume for punishment."

It only took a second for Kate to catch onto Nuju's idea and she fought the urge to run to help Whenua that she previously had. The Earth Toa was beginning to grow on her and he was the first friendly thing she'd met since coming here. Nuju was okay when he wasn't being cold. Which was most of the time. She kept quiet and shrank farther into the crevice, fighting the urge to sneeze. Only a few seconds later and Nuju was freezing something yet again, but freeing Whenua in the process.

"The Vahki have kindly provided us with a bridge." The Ice Toa said simply pulling Kate from her hiding spot. "Let's use it."

Now Kate could see three frozen Vahki spanning another gap and she could easily guess what had happened based on what she had heard and seen. Whenua was still grumbling about his sudden frozen experience as he helped Kate across the bridge of frozen Vahki, prompting Nuju to turn around, somewhat (surprisingly) concerned.

"Are you alright?" he asked his Toa brother.

"Well I won't be in a hurry to visit the icier parts of the Archives for awhile." Whenua sighed. "Give me a little warning next time."

Kate was tempted to say 'me too.' She hadn't been very pleased to just be stuffed somewhere like a toy a child was trying not to get caught with. Then she remembered that she was trying to avoid talking to the Toa of Ice as much as possible since it seemed her voice irritated him.

"All right," Nuju replied, looking over their shoulders. "Hit the ground." And he fell flat to the ground with Whenua pulling Kate down next to them with a cry. Nuju created a thin ice layer that domed them in. "Keep quiet." He hissed.

Kate kept her mouth shut against the complaint on her tongue as she listened, thinking, '_Man, this guy is bossy!_'

But as the events progressed on, she was glad she's listened to him and soon, they were following the Keerahk straight to the Great Disk. It was only a few moments before Whenua was traveling down Nuju's ice slide and making a lot of noise down on the ground and Nuju was going in for the Great Disk. Kate had her arms wrapped tightly around her, wanting to be warm when she strangely felt warmer and was no longer shivering. Weird. That had never happened before. She didn't have time to ponder it as Nuju leaped back to the tower she was waiting on, Great Disk in hand.

"Let's go." He said shortly. "We have matoran to collect and I'm not keen on playing babysitter much longer."

Kate ground her teeth, but said nothing. The guy was her ticket down after all. Silently, she followed the Toa, not knowing that her future had much more in store for her.

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**Please review!**


	6. The Toa

**Well, you guys know the drill. Bionicle doesn't belong to me, but Kate does.**

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"So, what _is_ it?" Onewa, Toa of Stone asked Whenua for what seemed like the hundredth time.

The former archivist sighed. "_She_ claims that her species are called humans. Apparently, there's a complete world filled with them somewhere and they live their lives very differently." Whenua frowned in thought. "Although she's convinced that she must be in a dream, judging from what I've heard her saying to herself."

"So it talks to itself. Great. For all we know, you just brought a crazy rahi into our midst!" Onewa snorted, crossing his arms.

The two of them had been arguing for a while now, Onewa angry and Whenua getting more frustrated by the second. After the Ko-Metru tower hopping stunt, Whenua and Nuju had dragged Kate through the city, and to a pre-assigned meeting area. Kate had been just thrilled to see four more beings like the two Toa Metru and had jumped for joy on discovering that one of them was indeed female. Not. It had been the opposite and she distinctly remembered having to shelter herself behind the large Toa of Earth while he and Nuju explained who she was, what she was doing there, etc. All that fun stuff. At this point, Whenua had decided that Kate really meant no harm and had taken joy in playing tour guide and historian on the way to the Great Temple. Which just caused arguments to break out between the two Toa. Every so often, the Toa of Ice would mutter or roll his eyes at something Whenua would say and claim the future of Metru-Nui was more important than some dusty old relics. Then Whenua would get angry and throw back that a future read in the stars was liable to change and that history was fact set in stone. And so on and so forth.

It had gotten to the point where Kate had to keep the two distracted by telling them stories of her own home. Of course, she left out much about herself. It wasn't their business to know about her life anyhow. So she told them about human cities, human law enforcement (which Nuju believed was very ineffective) and many other things. She had a tough time describing cars until Whenua was satisfied with her explanation, but she'd gotten through it. She'd even gone into school! Whenua had been thrilled to hear that her best subject had been history and that had launched into a completely new discussion. The Civil War, The Revolution, World Wars 1 and 2, and everything in between.

Which was why Kate had been somewhat relieved that they had gotten to the Great Temple. Until she was being stared at like a brand new computer on display. It got tiring after awhile. She'd taken the time to view her surroundings, in this place called Ga-Metru. It was quiet, seaside, and reminded her of something out of a Star Wars movie. She distinctly thought how ironic it would be if Oota Gunga was sitting below the waves, Jar-Jar Binks included.

She turned when the Toa Metru of Fire, Vakama, stepped in to break up the spat between his fellow Toa. Unlike Whenua or Nuju, his armor was bright red and his mask different. Tao Nokama, Toa of Water, and Matau, Toa of air, were just as different. Nokama was a sea blue and her patience seemed to stretch a long time, while Matau bounced from one foot to the other, his silvery green armor shining in the setting sun. Onewa was a sandy brown and he seemed to have a stubborn streak a mile wide.

These guys personality seemed to match their elements. Huh. Go figure. Kate, herself had fallen quiet, trying to ignore the curious ad fearful glances from the matoran and the suspicious ones from some of the Toa. Instead, she listened to all that was said.

"Look, it doesn't matter where it-she- came from." Vakama was saying to the two squabbling Toa. "What _does_ matter is that she's here. So let's stop bickering and find a solution."

Nuju stepped forward. "I think it would be wise we keep and eye on her." He caught Whenua's look of disbelief and added, "At least for now."

"Oh! Smart!" Onewa snorted sarcastically from where he was sitting on a broken wall. "An eye out for the Morbuzakh, an eye on the matoran, an eye out for Vakhi. Anybody have an eye to spare?"

Nobody laughed. Not even a chuckle. Well, not that Onewa minded, it would seem. After all, he really was just being condescending, something Nuju ignored altogether. Kate, on the other hand, was just about fed up with this place. For once in her life, she wanted to go back to her foster parents' home. An enemy you knew how to deal with was better than an enemy you didn't know at all. And right now, she seemed to be making borderline enemies. Unless she could prove to them that she wasn't there to trick them or anything. For the moment, at least, Whenua was on her side.

"Hey guys, c'mon!" His deep voice rumbled. "We can't just judge her like that. She really doesn't know about this place at all! Besides, she hasn't done anything to prove that she's a threat or an enemy." He shot a hard glare at Nuju when he said that.

Onewa rolled his eyes. "Fine then, stock boy, _you_ keep an eye on 'er."

Whenua glared at the Toa of Stone. "Maybe I will." He crossed his arms stubbornly.

This seemed to be a good answer for everybody at the moment. Vakama glanced at his Earth brother, somewhat nervously. He sincerely hoped that Whenua's interest in the strange being wasn't clouding his judgment. Still, despite his worry, he got the feeling that he shouldn't be worried about it. If this Kate was telling the truth, then she was brought here for a reason. She had a duty that she must see through, whatever it may be. The Toa of Fire shook his head and hoped for the best. He turned to see Matau approaching the human girl, Whenua and Nokama close behind. He rolled his eyes.

"Hi-ho, little sister!" Matau greeted energetically, her appearance seemingly having little effect on him. "I'm speak-called Matau, Toa of Air."

Kate gave him a weird look, her blond hair bobbing on her shoulders. "What are you? A Dwarf?"

Now it was Matau's turn for the funny look. "Dwarf? What would that be?"

"Never mind." Kate sighed, reminding herself that these guys wouldn't know about Snow White and her seven little friends.

Matau's grin never faltered. "Odd-strange speak-words you have there, little sister."

"Remember Matau, a lot of what we say will be new to her as well." Whenua chuckled at the Toa of Air's bravado. He turned to Kate who seemed relieved to see him. "I see you've already met the Toa of Air. This is Nokama, Toa of Water." He gestured to the sea blue female standing just to his right.

"Pleasure." Kate said, rubbing her arm. It was a nervous habit that she had never managed to break herself of. She would extend her arm and shake hands with Nokama, but she didn't know if that was the custom in this world.

Nokama nodded, seeming equally uncertain. "Whenua tells me that you have shared many things with him, of your world. Would it be too much to ask if I could hear some of it?"

Kate smiled shyly, glad that at least half of this group wasn't treating her as a freak. Lord knew she got enough of it back home. "I don't think it would be a problem."

"Are you guys coming, or what?" The shout had come from Onewa who was standing with Vakama, Nuju, and the matoran some ways away. "Ice boy says we have a nasty weed to rip out by the roots!"

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**Please review, and if you guys want something to happen from the books, let me know. (I havn't read all of them *sweat drop*)**


	7. When in Dark Tunnels

**YAY! It's FINALLY here! Sorry for making you all wait so long. Hope you enjoy!**

**Bionicle is not mine.**

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Okay, so Kate didn't know where she was. She hadn't for days now, but it certainly didn't help that she was in a dark tunnel, underground, and utterly alone! Hadn't she already been through enough for a lifetime? Why this too? It just wasn't fair! Then again, her whole life's story seemed to be unfair. This world, her home... everything. And it had all happened so fast.

First, she'd been dragged along to the Toa's fight with the Morbuzakh. That had been absolutely terrifying and thrilling at the same time and she was positive that if the Matoran hadn't formed into one (which had TOTALLY made her think of Dragonball Z) then she'd be plant feeder right now. Not only did she owe those brave matoran her life, but she had also made some of her first friends among them. Visola was energetic and reminded her of an overly enthusiastic big sister. Even so, she'd enjoyed learning about Ga-Metru from the native Ga-Matoran. Nuhrii, the Ta-Matoran, had tried to explain in detail to her the forging of masks. While Kate had found it interesting, it was thanks to Vakama that she still had ears to hear with. Tehutti had finally gotten over his strange aversion to her and went on and on about his pride and joy in the archives. He'd even promised to show it to her some time. That was, if she wasn't mistaken for a new type pf rahi and ended up in there herself. While he had seemed to think it was a joke, she and Whenua didn't find it very funny. Ehrye was a talkative matoran who swore that he would be a great scholar in the Ko-Metru towers one day. This had caused another argument between Kate and Nuju when the Ice Toa had quickly told Ehrye to 'Not count on it.'

Ehrye had quickly stopped an all out fight by quickly telling Kate that he was 'used to it', but that he'd prove Nuju wrong one day. Kate had told him that was the spirit while still shooting cold glares at the Ice Toa's back. What right did he have to tell somebody that their dreams were unachievable! Some protector...

Then there was Orkahm. From conversations she'd overheard between the Toa and matoran, Le-Matoran were supposed to be fun-loving, fast moving, crazy little buggers. Orkahm was anything, but! He was responsible and often thought before he spoke, unlike his bigger counterpart, Matau. The Toa of Air was a complete representation of what Kate imagined Le-Matoran to be. But that didn't mean everyone was like that. Kate liked listening to Orkahm talk about his Ussal Crab, and all the jobs they did. Now Akmou... The Po-Matoran had issues to say the least. He wasn't very sociable and seemed to avoid contact with the others as much as possible. Not to mention he was jumpy. She'd never gotten to have a proper conversation with him before he'd stormed off after the whole Morbuzakh thing.

Those memories, although recent, were some of the best ones Kate had. The Toa had even seemed to be warming up to her, a few of them already trusting her completely. Whenua and Matau seemed to enjoy her company as much as she enjoyed theirs. Nuju, while he had admitted that Kate didn't appear to mean any harm to them, was still frigid towards her. Not that she cared. The guy's high and mighty attitude got on her nerves anyway! So the incident with the giant vine thing had ended. And yet, Kate would do anything to fight it again. By herself if she had to! Compared to this... At least with the Morbuzakh, she knew who her enemy was and that there was a way to defeat it. Here in the dark, she knew nothing.

Why did she have to follow the Toa down that stupid hole! She could be safe on the surface right now! When the Toa had parted down the six different tunnels, Whenua had told her to stay out and he would come get her when he was sure there was nothing to worry about. What seemed like hours had passed and nobody had come back from the tunnels. So, against her better judgment, she had wandered into the tunnels herself. And now, here she was. If only her mom could see her now!

Kate glanced from side to side in the almost pitch black. Did she dare chance it? She'd been through all of this crap already and she hadn't once used one of her strange abilities. But she felt so insecure just standing here in the dark. Undecidedly, she bit her lip. Then, slowly, she allowed a faint, purplish glow to radiate from her hands, illuminating what she couldn't see. It was better, she had to admit. But still far from comforting. Hesitantly, she began walking down the dark tunnel again, her ears straining to hear anything and everything she may have to run from. At one point she could have sworn she heard the sounds of battle coming from further down the tunnel, but when she explored further, all she found was a caved in wall and burn marks on the ceiling. It was odd, but what did she know about odd? For all she knew, this could be an everyday occurrence!

What she did know was that she was getting tired of just walking aimlessly. Because, by this point, she was hopelessly lost now. What was she supposed to do in a situation like this? Wait for the Toa to find her? Yeah right. With the way they got along, they were more likely to attack each other than to come running to find a lost little human. She kept walking, her shuffling feet echoing off the walls around her. What other choice did she have?

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What felt like hours later, Kate had finally had enough! "ARGH! WHAT IS IT WITH THIS PLACE AND TUNNELS!"

Her voice echoed back at her, harsh on her ears after the silence of the last few hours. Thinking back on it, raising her voice that much had probably not been such a good idea. Even as she thought it, something came flying out of the darkness at her. The teen barely had time to dodge before the wall behind her was exploding.

"Ahhh!" Kate cried, covering her face with her hands and wincing when little pieces of stone either bounced off her or cut into her. When the wall had finished collapsing, she looked up to see a reptilian-like creature. What had the Toa called it again? Oh, right. A Rahkshi. Man, this place seemed to be crawling with the buggers.

Fearfully, Kate stood and backed toward the ruined wall, her eyes never leaving the staff of glowing energy at the Rahkshi's side. "S-stay away from me!" Her voice shook and she had her hands at her sides in case she needed to throw an electrical* current at it or something.

The creature shrieked, revealing an ugly, worm like thing in its head and it took a small step closer. Kate took a step back. Then another and another, as the Rahkshi grew bolder and began to close in on the intruder. Too soon, there wasn't anywhere for Kate to back into anymore, as her back pressed against the ruined wall. She watched in absolute horror as the staff charged and then she was diving for cover when some kind of energy bolt was released and heading for where she had been. The blast finished off what was left of the wall and a fuzzy orangish light filled the tunnel, replacing the black. A warm heat slowly followed that light, replacing the chill as well. The Rahkshi froze, a low hiss escaping the horrid little worm thing in its head and the yellow creature was backing off, staff forgotten on the ground. A few moments later and it was gone, leaving Kate in a daze and a feeling that she should be doing the same. Instead, she stood her legs still a bit shaky. Naturally, she wanted to run, but something pulled her to the large hole in the wall and towards that light. What she saw didn't exactly astound her or anything, but it certainly caught her attention. The chamber beyond the wall was humungous, easily two football fields. In its center was a depression filled with the source of the light and heat, something that to the human resembled lava. Yet it wasn't lava. Somehow, she was sure of that. There were glowing stones mounted along the walls of the chamber, adding to the luminescent glow. How weird.

"Kate?"

Kate jumped, swinging around in fear and confusion upon seeing nobody in the chamber with her. There was nothing. "Who –who's there?"

"Up here!"

Kate's eyes darted to the ceiling, her look of fear being replaced with one of stunned surprise. The Toa of Earth was pasted to the ceiling by some kind of webbing and bound so tightly, only his head could move. "Whenua? Is that some kind of game?"

The ebony Toa rolled his eyes. "Not funny! Is it really you?"

Kate stared at him, confused. "Of course it's me! What do I look like? Some kind of Ice Toa with a sour attitude?"

"Alright, it's you." Whenua chuckled. "Think you can get me down?"

"Ummmmm… Maybe if I knew how you got _up_ there first."

"Oh, believe me, you don't want to know." Whenua grumbled. "Just… Try something…"

Kate bit her lip, glancing around the chamber for anything that may help her up there. Nothing. This place was almost entirely empty of anything. Was it even inhabited? Kate was at a loss for what to do when her eyes suddenly strayed over the gaping hole she had come through. Then she _finally_ had an idea. She turned back to Whenua. "Hold on for a bit."

"Oh I'm not going anywhere…" Whenua said, his voice trailing off when he noticed she had already left. It wasn't long until she was back, a Rahkshi staff in hand. His eyes widened. "Where'd you get _that_?"

"You don't want to know." Kate grinned. "Now I just gotta figure out how to work the stupid…!" A thin beam of energy crackled from the end of it when Kate placed her hand over a sensor of some kind. The beam flew through the room, missing the Earth Toa's head by inches. "Oops…"

Whenua felt his hopes plummeting. "Please tell me you're not a bad shot…"

"That was an accident!" The blond protested. "You can't blame me for not knowing how this thing works!"

"Well, while you figure it out, try pointing it somewhere else!"

Kate rolled her eyes and grumbled to herself as she experimented with the sensors. It seemed that the harder she gripped it, the more powerful the blast. With that in mind, she pulled the end up to face the trapped Toa. Carefully, she applied pressure until a thin beam shot across the room and hit the edge of the webbing holding Whenua's are hostage. The webbing was singed and the strands loosened, allowing Whenua to pull his arm free. Then he set to work freeing the rest of his body. In no time at all, he was swinging from the last few strands until he had gained enough of an arc to clear the depression below him. He hated to think about what would happen if he were to actually fall into the boiling protodermis below him. He swung just as the last of the webbing detached itself from the ceiling, falling with a sizzle into the boiling protodermis. Whenua had successfully cleared the depression and whooped in success.

Kate let go of the staff, happy to be done with it. Then, she yelped in surprise when she was lifted from the ground and found herself in a Toa of Earth bear hug. Her cheeks turned bright pink.

"Thank you, Kate!" Whenua said, squeezing the girl in a tight hug. "I thought I would die up there!"

"U-uh… You're welcome, Whenua." Kate replied breathlessly. "Now could you maybe let go? It's getting hard to breathe."

"Oh, sorry!" Whenua quickly put her down and let her catch her breath. "C'mon. We need to catch up to the others." He knelt and picked up the staff, pushing it into Kate's hands. "And it may be a good idea to keep this. You may need it."

With that, he left Kate to follow him out as he muttered to low for the girl to hear, "I just hope we're not too late."

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**Please R+R!**


	8. Into the Dark Again

**Haha! Finally the chapter with Kate and Whenua's promised fluff! Not a lot mind you, but the beginnings. Watch their love grow! .**

**I don't own Bionicle... But if I did, Lewa would SO be a death defying daredevil...oh wait... He already is.  
**

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"Where are we?" Kate asked quietly, trying to keep her voice from causing unnerving echoes.

"Under the Archives somewhere." Whenua answered his voice just as quiet. " And if I'm not mistaken, then we should be finding that crack soon. If we don't meet the others there…" His sentence trailed off.

""If we don't meet the others?" Kate prompted, hurrying to keep up with the Toa of Earth. He was leading them through the more lighted passageways, making it easier for the both of them to see.

"Then we assume something bad happened and find them." He finished simply, trying to think of how they _could_ find them and know that it _was_ them. He'd filled Kate in on the Krahka and as much as he tried to convince himself it was going to turn out okay, he couldn't stop the worry from invading his mind. Especially for the human beside him. They'd learned in the fight against the King Morbuzakh that the way they looked wasn't the only thing that made humans different from themselves. They were so much more fragile.

It was after the fight when Vakama had pointed out that Kate had red liquid flowing from numerous areas and the teenager had explained about cuts and bloods and the importance it played for humans. They could die if they lost too much and they were easily broken. Perhaps he should have insisted she waited on the surface for them. Or maybe it would have done no good. She might have followed them anyway. Now he was worried about so many things at once. Like what if she fell and hit her head? She had mentioned that many things could happen if a human's skull was damaged. Amnesia, fractures, and even death. Then there was her 'skin'. It sure didn't make very good armor and was broken easily. It was all that separated the outside world from a human's blood.

Not only were all of these fears present in his mind, but the welfare of his siblings as well. The Krahka was intelligent. Extremely so. And he had never warned his brothers or sister. Anything could have happened by now. Like him, one or more of them could be the Krahka's prisoner. Or worse…

Whenua shook his head vehemently. '_Don't think about that!_' He quietly ordered himself. They had been chosen as Toa for a reason. Surely they could face this challenge?

"Which way now?" Kate's voice broke into his thoughts and he looked up to see that they had come to an intersection again. On one side, the cave was more open and pulsed with light most likely coming from the surface. On the other was a narrower passageway that led deeper into the dark.

Whenua's smile was slightly sarcastic. "Into the dark again."

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How long had they been walking? That was the question the bubbled to the forefront of Kate's mind as she trailed behind her large friend. It seemed to be a question that was appearing often. Kate couldn't remember ever having _walked_ so much! Even in P.E.! She just wanted to find the others and get out of here.

Not to mention it really _had_ gotten dark again. Even Whenua was having trouble picking his way through the small caves. Especially with his bulk. From time to time, Kate would fine herself running into him because he had to stop to deliberate.

"If only there was a little light…" He muttered for what seemed the thousandth time within the past five minutes.

Kate felt a little guilty because she knew that she could help with that. But she was afraid. She had seen so many impossible things happen here. Things that in her world would be considered myth and legend. Video game worthy, cinematic, a trick of the light and on and on. And yet she was still afraid. She was already a freak here, just by the way she looked. Didn't having these weird abilities make her that much more of a freak?

"Kate?" Whenua's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Something wrong? You keep mumbling to yourself…"

"Huh! Oh. No. Nothing much… I was just thinking that we could very well be lost."

Whenua was silent for a moment before speaking. "Why do you do that?"

Kate looked at him, confused. "Do what?"

"Talk negatively like that. Everything you say is usually something negative."

"It is not!"

"You know I haven't heard you say one thing about yourself since you came to this world. And I haven't brought it up until now because you seemed uneasy whenever we approached the subject, but it also seems to affect you."

"You're not making any sense." Kate frowned. "Shouldn't we continue to look for the others?"

A frown also spread across Whenua's face, but he let it go for the moment. She was right. He could sort through this issue later. The most important thing was finding the others before something went wrong. He returned to picking his way through the tunnels, trying to think of something to relieve the tense atmosphere that had suddenly descended between them. He really did like the human. She was a strong girl and he felt that there was nothing to be afraid about her. In fact, he would say they had been on their way to making good friends. And wasn't a good friend allowed to worry when their friend was a constant (as Kate had said once before) 'downer'?

"Waaaah!" Whenua spun around when Kate cried out and he strained to see in the darkness.

"Kate! Katrina! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine….. " Kate's voice seemed to come from far away and down. Like it was echoing through a pipe or something.

Whenua felt with his hands along the walls until he found he was no longer touching stone…or anything for that matter. He felt along the emptiness as it lead him down and he was crouching by a small fissure in the ground. He got worried. "Kate?"

"Yeah, I'm down here!"

"Are you okay?"

"Bruised, smacked around and a little irritated…"

Whenua grinned at the note of petulance in her tone. "One sec and I'll have you out…" It fell quiet s Whenua concentrated the remnants of his energies into the cave floor below in the fissure. Slowly, painfully, Kate felt the ground beneath her begin to rise and the musty smell of the small fissure in the ground was replaced by the coolness of the cavern. Whenua breathed deeply when she was finally out and released his concentration gratefully. Ever since the Morbuzakh confrontation, he'd found his elemental powers depleted and it was difficult to perform anything big. Not that it wasn't before. It was just far more difficult now than it was the first time he'd tried it.

"Thanks….. " Kate said rubbing her knee where she'd smacked it at the bottom. Not to mention her backend.

"Don't mention it." Whenua laughed breathlessly. "But why do you manage to fall down all the holes?"

"Don't ask me." The blond grumbled.

"Well… It's dangerous." In the dark, the Toa of Earth reached for the human's hand until his large one enveloped one of her smaller ones. "This way, we don't get separated again."

Kate felt herself blush. This was the first time she'd held hands with a guy. Like, _ever_! Although she doubted this counted much. He was from another world, they didn't think of each other in that way, and they were still practically strangers. Still, it didn't stop her stomach from doing odd flips. Or her mouth shut.

"You know, this is the first time I've held hands with somebody other than my mom… Don't ask me why I told you. It was just in my head."

"I see…" And although the Earth Toa would never admit it, for some reason, the thought pleased him very much.

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**Well, R+R!**


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